Our sixth annual Europe’s Top 100 report provides a comprehensive look at the impact of regulatory developments on executive pay and CEO pay levels in Europe’s Top 100 companies.

The report examines:

The impact of regulatory developments across Europe, including the EU Shareholders’ Rights Directive (SRD) and Fair Pay

Actual Total Direct Compensation for CEOs in Europe’s Top 100 companies

Trends in executive incentive design

And more

Our analysis found that Shareholders’ Rights Directive (SRD) is the key driver influencing Executive Director compensation now and in the coming years. A small number of countries have published implementation drafts, while others are still awaiting further guidance. In the past year we have observed increasing shareholder pressure on exceptionally high pay levels and a further alignment in pay practices across Europe.

Alongside this, we see that pay levels for almost every element analysed remained stable. In relation to incentive design, companies are concentrating on reviewing metrics and amending their calibration – with a focus on both weighting and defining payout curves. We are also seeing an increasing focus on pay fairness, which has largely been driven by public opinion. In this context, the discussion is not only focused on CEO pay ratios, but also on gender pay reporting and boards taking into consideration the views and interests of employees.

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